A move to fixed fees for each major task in
patent prosecution. “This captures savings up
front and cuts invoice review, allowing the team
to focus on higher-value portfolio management
and managing firms based on outcomes rather
than spend,” Brenton explains.

Competitive bidding. NetApp invited selectincumbent and new firms to get creative withpricing and support models, including a fixed-price menu approach and yearly “all-in” feesapproach. “The menu approach makes it easierfor law firms to respond, and for us to identifythe items above the negotiated price. It forcesfirms to rethink their own processes and utilizethe docketing system,” says George Simion,director of IP at NetApp. The team then decidedon a price for each activity. “We wanted thatsingle price so that we could write a rule intoour e-billing system and eliminate bill review,”Brenton says. “It also leveled the playing field.”Legal partnered with NetApp’s procurementteam on the RFP submission to ensure greaterrigor and deeper analysis, including participa-tion from technology resources to consolidatethe massive amounts of information generated.The process yielded six selected firms globally(“the beginnings of a convergence program,”according to Brenton), and a reduction inoutside counsel spend of 19.5 percent.

Not only did this “big-arrow” initiative result in
lower legal costs, but the resulting efficiency
gains—an estimated time savings of 5,200
hours—freed up NetApp IP attorneys to handle
complex deals and litigation, strategize with
the business and continue to evolve the patent
program to align with the company’s broader
transformation.

“Information drives value,” says Patel. “Tracking
data through these initiatives builds data sets
(small arrows) that help law departments better
understand the fair market value and pricing
for matter-related work. That intelligence can
be used to scope future work and help outside
counsel become more accurate, cost-effective
and efficient (big arrow). This drives tremendous value, saving all involved parties precious
time and money.”

• Good adaptation of academic concepts to real-life solutions• Good use of analytics and process to make improvements• Interesting partnering model; Elevate is an extension of thelegal department contributing to strategy and legwork